Love In The Time Of War
by People Always Leave
Summary: A fierce and fearless Lily Evans. A tough but tortured James Potter. And a war they didn't ask for but turned out to be the center of. (Chapters will get longer, I promise!)
1. Chapter 1: Meet Lily Evans

Chapter 1

"Ma'am, you can't go in there."

I heard the voice behind me but I kept on walking, determined to reach the end of the hall, keeping in mind to not increase my pace.

"Stop ma'am, you—"

Seconds before I could reach the door, a man opened it from the inside, ready to walk out. He was tall, about 6' 4" and extremely good looking but not enough to distract me from my task. I caught a glimpse of what lay behind him despite his tall and built figure. Three men, crowding around what seemed to be a blonde, female figure on the floor. Navy robes pooled around here, almost making it difficult to see the pool of dark blood that she lay in.

This wasn't the killing curse.

This was torture.

I didn't get to confirm the identity of the victim before the man who stood in front of me caught hold of my arm and started to drag me from the scene, and off the floor. I didn't mind now, I had what I came in for and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get any further with four Aurors in the room. And I definitely didn't want to contaminate the scene - that would be against everything I was trying to achieve anyway.

I'm Lily Evans. Graduate from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. War correspondent for The Daily Prophet.

I was pretty sure I had just seen the dead body of Louisa McLaggen, secretary to the Minister of Magic. Inside the British Ministry.

And hell if it wasn't going to be on the front page of the paper tomorrow morning.


	2. Chapter 2: Meet Sirius Black

Chapter 2

 _Why is this taking so long?_

I wasn't generally a man of patience. I accept that. But there was something about dealing with this client that particularly drove me nuts.

The elevator finally stopped on Basement Level 2 and I pushed past the crowd to get out in time. I crossed the hallway in less than a minute and opened the same door I always found her behind.

"We've got to stop meeting like this."

Her eyes remained closed but her lips twisted into a smile. They were moving, as if she was chanting sometime. I knew for a fact that she wasn't. Lily Evans wasn't religious. Nor did she believe in meditation - though it might do her some good, come to think of it. No, I was pretty sure Lily Evans was writing a story in her head.

She stopped memorizing her own words a few seconds later and turned to me, finally opening her eyes.

"Admit it, you love the thrill it gives you. You secretly wish I would play the damsel more often, Sirius," she said, grinning.

"You could never be a damsel, Lily. Not even if you tried." I sighed, sinking into the chair opposite her. "What did you get yourself into this time?"

"They have no proof of anything. They're detaining me under the pretense of my witnessing a crime - they're just stalling, Sirius. It's almost midnight and they don't want my story going to press." Lily leaned forwards on the table and looked into my eyes. "Get me out of here."

I got up and walked into the adjacent room, ready to smooth things over with the Aurors. We all knew the drill. They didn't really have any cause - even during war times, with all the extra precautions. They just had to try and carry out the orders they received, even if they believed it was a grey area. It took me about fifteen minutes to get Lily out this time - a personal best. She vanished as quickly as she could. There clearly wasn't time for pleasantries. She had to make it back to the Prophet offices.

I'm Sirius Black and I practice Magical Law. I had two clients - The Daily Prophet and The Order of The Phoenix. Lily Evans was a part of both.


	3. Chapter 3: Meet James Potter

Oh, sweet Louisa. It seemed a lifetime ago but James remember her so clearly. The McLaggens were an old Magical family that lived a few miles away from the Potter estate when he was growing up. Louisa was 8 years old when James was born and babysat as often as she could. When she was accepted into Hogwarts, she would tell him all about the magical school over her holidays. She never had any siblings, just like him. And while they had lost touch when James went abroad on Auror assignment, she was family.

One of his mentors and close friend had caught the case and sent a coded message. James just happened to be in England for his monthly report when he received it and appeared immediately to the crime scene. After sorting an issue with some reporter trying to get a scoop, he returned to the room where she lay.

She was the last McLaggen in her family. Her parents had died when she was still in Hogwarts, one of the earlier casualties of this war, and since then she had thrown herself into public service. The ministry was her life. He only aim was to help however she could in bringing an end to this war. She would have been an Auror if she could, but she was't expecting there to be a war when she was picking her NEWT classes. She contributed as she could. By being the Minister's right hand woman.

And while James should have been mad about losing her, angry about another death so close to home… He had grown numb to grief. All he could see in his mind was 16 year old Lou, wearing a yellow dress that clashed horribly with her blonde hair, laughing at his big birthday picnic in their front lawn. She was messing up his hair, pointing out her new crush from Hogwarts who was also in attending and winning the Chubby Bunny contest.

He smiled, thinking of the Lou before the war touched her.

Then he closed her eyes and made a silent promise to find out exactly what happened to her and end the people who did this. 


End file.
